Microsoft Search Server 2008 hardware and software requirements

A Microsoft Search Server 2008 configuration can range from a Basic installation (a stand-alone configuration on a single server) to an Advanced installation that uses multiple servers (a server farm). This article describes minimum and recommended hardware and software requirements for the Basic and Advanced installation options. The hardware and software requirements described in this article apply to both x86 (32-bit–based) and x64 (64-bit–based) systems. Search Server 2008 does not support Itanium-based systems.

Note: Beyond the minimum requirements described in this article, your hardware needs depend on your plans for availability, capacity, and performance. This article does not provide guidance on designing a farm topology or selecting hardware based on extended architectural requirements. For information about designing a solution to meet your requirements, see Planning and architecture for Search Server 2008.

Software requirements

Operating system and Windows component requirements

We recommend that you install Search Server 2008 on a computer that has a new installation of either of the following:

Any of the following Windows Server 2003 operating systems (32-bit or 64-bit versions) with the most recent service packs, or their R2 counterparts:

Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition operating system

Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition operating system

Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition operating system

Windows Server 2003 Web Edition operating system

Any of the following Windows Server 2008 operating systems (32-bit or 64-bit versions) with the most recent service packs:

Windows Server 2008 Standard operating system

Windows Server 2008 Enterprise operating system

Windows Server 2008 Datacenter operating system

Windows Web Server 2008 operating system

When you run the Search Server Preparation Tool from the installation Start screen, the tool downloads, installs, and enables the following elements as necessary and appropriate to satisfy Search Server 2008 requirements:

Basic installation (single server) requirements

You use the Search Server 2008 Basic installation option to create a stand-alone configuration on a single computer. A Basic installation automatically installs and uses SQL Server 2005 Express Edition for data storage.

56 kilobits per second (Kbps) connection between client computers and server

Drive

DVD drive, or a local or network-accessible drive to which you can copy the entire contents of the Search Server 2008 installation CD

Display monitor

1024 × 768 or higher resolution

Database requirements (Basic installation)

If you are using Windows Server 2003 Web Edition in a single-server environment, you can install Search Server 2008 using the Basic (stand-alone) installation option only. This is because an Advanced installation requires an existing SQL Server database, but SQL Server cannot be installed on Windows Server 2003 Web Edition because of Windows licensing restrictions.

Advanced installation (server farm) requirements

The primary difference between a single server installation and a server-farm topology is that in the latter case you can use one or more computers to host each of the following server roles:

Application server

Web front-end server

Database server

This section describes minimum and recommended system requirements for the application server role and Web front-end server role. If you install more than one role on a single computer, ensure that the computer meets the minimum requirements for each installed role.

Note: Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express can be installed in a configuration that contains no more than one application server. (The application server is used for serving search queries and crawling content.) There is no limit to the number of Web front-end servers that can be used with a Search Server 2008 Express application server.

For connections between computers in a server farm, 1 gigabit per second

Drive

DVD drive, or a local or network-accessible drive to which you can copy the entire contents of the Search Server 2008 installation CD

Display monitor

1024 × 768 or higher resolution

Web front-end server software requirements (Advanced installation)

The role of a Web front-end server is a subset of the application server role. All features on a Web front-end server are available on an application server. Software requirements for the Web front-end server are the same as those for an application server before you add resources to satisfy your capacity demands.

Database server software requirements (Advanced installation)

The database server must have SQL Server 2000 with SP3a or later or SQL Server 2005 SP2 or later. Some advanced features require SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services SP2 or later. For information about hardware and software requirements for deploying a database server running SQL Server 2005, see SQL Server 2005 System Requirements.